White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a wide-ranging press briefing hours after the terror attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, that some Americans, including lawmakers, may not want to let Afghan refugees into the United States.
“I will tell you that what we have been working to do is to work closely with governors, with localities, with local leaders to give them detailed briefings on what our vetting process looks like, what the background check process looks like before any individual comes into the United States gates,” Psaki said in response to a question about reservations against refugee admissions. “That is a background check process that’s thorough before they are allowed to come in and step on. U.S. soil.”
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The top White House spokeswoman added, “We also know that there are some people in this country, even some in Congress, who may not want to have people from another country come as refugees into the United States.”
“That’s a reality. We can’t stop or prevent that on our own. But we are going to continue to communicate our intensive vetting process, and we’ve been working hard to do that behind the scenes,” she continued. “This is also part of who we are part of the fabric of the United States.”
Later in the briefing, Psaki clarified she has not spoken to President Joe Biden about raising the yearly refugee cap to comply with demands from nearly 70 House Democrats.
“What I will tell you is that what [we] are trying to do is get our muscles working again — both in our systems, in the incredible refugee groups that are working on welcoming refugees from around the country and working on getting our vetting processes and systems around the world that are dead,” she replied. “But I have not had a conversation with him about raising the cap beyond the 125.”
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Watch Thursday’s briefing in its entirety below.
